Transfer and Life Cycle Wealth in Japan, 1974-1984

This paper measures, via the cumulation of life cycle saving method, the contribution of transfer to total wealth accumulation among worker households from 1974 to 1984. The findings suggest that under either the Modigliam or Kotlifoff and Summers definitions of transfer wealth, capital accumulation for these households is largely the result of life cycle saving. This study differs from previous analyses on the topic because of its "close application of the two definitions of transfer wealth and by its extensive use of simulation analysis." Accumulated transfer wealth, under either the Modigliam or Kotlifoff and Summers definitions, constitute a small component of total accumulated wealth for worker households from 1974 to 1984. Thus, for most Japanese households (worker households being 59.8 percent of total households), capital accumulation is a manifestation of life cycle saving. However, since worker households held only approximately half of total house hold wealth in 1984, it is premature to conclude that life cycle saving dominates the wealth accumulation process in Japan.